The development of a regional climate change forum in South Asia

South Asia is one of the most vulnerable regions in the world to climate change due to its greater exposure to climate hazards, superimposed on the backdrop of limited institutional capacity to adapt and livelihood dependency on climate-sensitive agriculture. The Asia Regional Resilience to a Changing Climate programme (ARRCC) takes a regional approach to climate change by aiming to strengthen the provision and uptake of weather and climate services in some of the most vulnerable South Asian countries, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan.  As part of the ARRCC programme, the Climate Analysis for Risk Information and Services in South Asia (CARISSA) project has identified that countries within South Asia would particularly benefit from a platform for knowledge exchange on climate science and services. Alongside the Met Office and FCDO, stakeholders in South Asia identified the most effective methods of knowledge exchange being 1) Establishing an online community of practice on climate change science and services, 2) Incorporating climate change information into the regional , climate outlook forum (RCOF) process, and 3) Establishing a dedicated and regular regional forum on climate change in South Asia. Here, we show the process of co-developing a network of key stakeholders in South Asia who are best placed to contribute to and benefit from, promotion of climate services in the region. We share our experience of co-creating an online community of best practice on climate science and services in South Asia and how this will help to establish greater uptake of climate information in decision-making. Finally, we will discuss how to incorporate regular, in-person meetings into the RCOF process to share climate knowledge and nurture collaborations between stakeholders throughout the region.